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September 2026 Edition, expanded tier · The six flagship models on every category, as published . The public index runs on the standard tier; this record is what the Expanded Edition Pack delivers on one category. The category page →
Index › GTM › Customer › Digital adoption · September 2026 Edition

Digital adoption and onboarding

Asked as “digital adoption platform”, and as “in-product onboarding and user guidance tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 25 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.
Standing · first-choice share
44%
Userpilot
Clear leader
44Userpilot24Appcues08Pendo24others

44% of first choices, clear leader.

ShowinginAll 112 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01Userpilot44%8%25endorsed leadernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 44% now.
02Appcues24%15%27accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 24% now.
03UserGuiding8%8%13accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 8% now.
04Pendo8%35%31criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 8% now.
05Whatfix4%37%27criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 4% now.
Show the three products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
08WalkMe0%63%27criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
06Userlane0%9%11accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.
07Chameleon0%8%13accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 0% now.

The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one can't be told apart from repeat variation, and both are shown. Each index measures its own floor from its own repeat, over its own categories, so the floor differs from one index to the next. How the floor is measured

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Head to head
Userpilot vs AppcuesUserpilot vs UserGuidingUserpilot vs Pendo
All ten head-to-head pages: the top five products, each against each
Userpilot vs WhatfixAppcues vs UserGuidingAppcues vs PendoAppcues vs WhatfixUserGuiding vs PendoUserGuiding vs WhatfixPendo vs Whatfix

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative60%
Key
01Userpilot44%
02Appcues24%
03UserGuiding8%
04Pendo8%
05Whatfix4%
06Userlane0%
07Chameleon0%
08WalkMe0%

What they warned about

Three of six models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-5.6 Sol and Gemini 3.1 Pro changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
WalkMe
63%
17 of 27 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 6 hard negative
“WalkMe — the most common warnings: - Cost and opacity. ... Reviewers consistently say it's poorly suited to SMBs. - Maintenance burden. ... Ownership risk.” Claude Opus 5, negative prompt
Whatfix
37%
10 of 27 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 3 hard negative
“Avoid enterprise-oriented platforms such as WalkMe or Whatfix on a tight budget” GPT-5.6 Sol, budget prompt
Pendo
35%
11 of 31 labels negative · 6 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“Pendo — the biggest 2025–26 contract risks... MAU overage behavior is nasty” Claude Opus 5, negative prompt
Appcues
15%
4 of 27 labels negative · 3 of 6 models · 1 hard negative
“avoid WalkMe, Whatfix, Appcues, and Apty” Gemini 3.1 Pro, budget prompt

What they cite

Six of the six models returned a source list in this edition: six return the pages they cited.

Sites the answers cite

33 of 36 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 6 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 612 links across 143 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.

userpilot.com
vendor site · Userpilot25 answers · 55 citations · 6 models
appcues.com
vendor site · Appcues24 answers · 34 citations · 6 models
pendo.io
vendor site · Pendo22 answers · 25 citations · 6 models
whatfix.com
vendor site · Whatfix20 answers · 25 citations · 6 models
walkme.com
vendor site · WalkMe17 answers · 21 citations · 6 models
apty.ai
vendor site · Apty15 answers · 28 citations · 5 models
gartner.com
vendor site · Gartner13 answers · 16 citations · 4 models
guideflow.com
vendor site · Guideflow12 answers · 19 citations · 4 models
visualsp.com
vendor site · VisualSP12 answers · 18 citations · 4 models
g2.com
11 answers · 20 citations · 4 models
userguiding.com
vendor site · UserGuiding10 answers · 21 citations · 4 models
usetandem.ai
10 answers · 15 citations · 2 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

gartner.com/reviews/market/digital-adoption-platforms
13 answers · 4 models
userpilot.com/blog/digital-adoption-platforms
13 answers · 4 models
visualsp.com/blog/digital-adoption-platforms
12 answers · 4 models
appcues.com/blog/product-adoption-software-platforms
11 answers · 5 models
pendo.io/pendo-blog/top-10-digital-adoption-platforms
10 answers · 4 models
g2.com/categories/digital-adoption-platform
9 answers · 4 models
guideflow.com/blog/best-digital-adoption-platforms
9 answers · 4 models
whatfix.com/digital-adoption-platform
8 answers · 3 models
apty.ai/blog/best-digital-adoption-platforms
7 answers · 3 models
tango.ai/blog/digital-adoption-platform-software
7 answers · 3 models

Search against answers

Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best digital adoption platform”, “digital adoption platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
Company and productsShareOwn site citedName searches, GoogleAI search demand, est.Organic visitsPaid search a month, est.Google ads, last 30 daysBest Google position
Userpilot userpilot.com44%2471,6001062,0846
Appcues appcues.com24%1981,9002618,5062
UserGuiding userguiding.com8%11139009,8192
Pendo pendo.io8%40912,10076119,185$3,609935
Product Fruits productfruits.com8%814802346,52110
Whatfix whatfix.com4%1782,4006531,568$29,894543
Usetiful usetiful.com4%6
Userlane userlane.com0%432102327
Chameleon chameleon.io0%73246,00024,2934,26801
Lemon Learning lemonlearning.com0%17

Google's top ten for the two searches hold 15 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (gartner.com, pendo.io, walkme.com, whatfix.com). The first result for “best digital adoption platform” is chameleon.io.

How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
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ModelDirect“What is the best digital adoption platform for a mid-market B2B software company?”Paraphrase“Which in-product onboarding and user guidance tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B software company?”Comparative“What are the top digital adoption platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best digital adoption platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a digital adoption platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which digital adoption platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5Appcues, Userpilot
Two alternativesChameleon, Whatfix
against: Pendo, WalkMeAppcues, UserpilotHeld
Three alternativesPendo, Product Fruits, UserGuiding
against: WalkMe, Whatfixno first choiceUserGuiding
Three alternativesHopscotch, Product Fruits, Tango
against: Pendo, Userflow, Userpilot, VisualSP, WalkMe, Whatfixno first choiceagainst: WalkMe, Whatfixagainst: ClickLearn, Inline Manual, Newired, Pendo, Toonimo, VisualSP, WalkMe, Whatfix
Claude Opus 4.8Appcues, Pendo, Userpilot
One alternativeWhatfix
against: WalkMePendoChanged
Two alternativesAppcues, Userpilot
against: WalkMeWalkMe, Whatfix
Five alternativesAppcues, Pendo, UserGuiding, Userlane, Userpilot
against: FullstoryAppcues, Userpilot
Three alternativesGuideflow, Lemon Learning, Supademo
against: Pendo, WalkMe, Whatfixno first choiceagainst: Pendo, WalkMe
GPT-6 AstraUserpilot
Four alternativesAppcues, Pendo, WalkMe, Whatfix
UserpilotHeld
Two alternativesAppcues, Pendo
Pendo, WalkMe, Whatfix
Three alternativesAppcues, Userlane, Userpilot
Product Fruits
One alternativeUserGuiding
no first choice
Three alternativesPendo, Userlane, Whatfix
against: WalkMeagainst: Appcues, Pendo, WalkMe, Whatfix
GPT-5.6 SolUserpilot
Five alternativesAppcues, Pendo, UserGuiding, WalkMe, Whatfix
against: ChameleonAppcuesChanged
Three alternativesChameleon, Pendo, Userpilot
WalkMe
Seven alternativesAppcues, Apty, Gainsight PX, Pendo, Userlane, Userpilot, Whatfix
Product Fruits
Two alternativesHelpHero, UserGuiding
against: WalkMe, Whatfixno first choiceagainst: Appcues, Pendo, SAP Enable Now, Userlane, Userpilot, WalkMe, Whatfix
Gemini 3.1 ProUserpilot
Six alternativesAppcues, Lemon Learning, Produktly, Stonly, Userflow, Userlane
against: PendoAppcues, UserpilotChanged
Three alternativesChameleon, Pendo, Userflow
WalkMe
Four alternativesAppcues, Apty, Pendo, Whatfix
Usetiful
Three alternativesProduktly, UserGuiding, VisualSP
against: Appcues, Apty, Pendo, WalkMe, WhatfixWhatfix
Six alternativesAppcues, Lemon Learning, Pendo, Spekit, Userlane, Userpilot
against: WalkMeagainst: Amplitude, Appcues, Pendo, Spekit, UserGuiding, WalkMe
Perplexity Sonar ProUserpilot
Four alternativesAppcues, Pendo, UserGuiding, Whatfix
UserpilotHeld
Three alternativesAppcues, Pendo, Userflow
no first choiceUserGuiding
Two alternativesHelpHero, Product Fruits
no first choiceagainst: Apty, ClickLearn, Pendo, WalkMe, Whatfix
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Thirty-six rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-09 19:27yes4249 s
Direct recommendationClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-09 19:29yes4349 s
Direct recommendationGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-09 19:31yes424 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-09 19:32yes639 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-10 17:23yes2246 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-09 19:30yes197 s
ParaphraseClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-09 19:34yes4054 s
ParaphraseClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-09 19:35no018 s
ParaphraseGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-09 19:37yes519 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-09 19:38yes733 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-10 17:24yes837 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-09 19:36yes205 s
ComparativeClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-09 19:40yes3865 s
ComparativeClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-09 19:44yes30156 s
ComparativeGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-09 19:46yes638 s
ComparativeGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-09 19:49yes866 s
ComparativeGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-10 17:28yes799 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-09 19:45yes199 s
Budget constrainedClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-09 19:52yes4062 s
Budget constrainedClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-09 19:59yes3565 s
Budget constrainedGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-09 20:01yes123 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-09 20:02yes420 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-10 17:29yes933 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-09 20:00yes204 s
Scale constrainedClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-09 20:04yes3764 s
Scale constrainedClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-09 20:05no021 s
Scale constrainedGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-09 20:06yes537 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-09 20:08yes551 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-10 17:31yes640 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-09 20:05yes207 s
Negative framingClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-09 20:11yes3876 s
Negative framingClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-09 20:16yes37208 s
Negative framingGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-09 20:18yes433 s
Negative framingGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-09 20:20yes749 s
Negative framingGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-10 17:32no026 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-09 20:17yes206 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
None. Every name in this category resolved on its own.
Unresolved, counted raw
None awaiting human review.
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.

Also in customer

The other categories of this function, with the leader in each.
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